Congress

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Aerosmith to GOP: Hands Off Our Song

House GOP's Back in the Saddle video yanked after copyright claim

(Newser) - Minority Whip Eric Cantor's effort to rally the House GOP with a video using Aerosmith's Back in the Saddle was swiftly bucked by the band, reports TPM. The company holding the song’s copyright requested that the video—which crowed about the House GOP's unified opposition to the stimulus package—...

Senate Centrists Hold House Dems Hostage

Stick up to Reid, Dems urge Pelosi

(Newser) - The Senate requires 60 votes to avoid filibuster, so the 58-strong Democrats are at the mercy of centrist Republicans Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins. Politico reports that House Dems, who have no trouble passing bills on their own, are unhappy that their legislation has to run this gauntlet....

On Stimulus, White House Kept Congress Close
On Stimulus, White House Kept Congress Close
ANALYSIS
Feb 17, 2009 12:36 PM CST

On Stimulus, White House Kept Congress Close

Prez still didn't get much GOP support

(Newser) - President Obama promised a new spirit of cooperation in Washington, and in his relationship with Congress, he did his best to deliver, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama left congressional leaders wide leeway in crafting the stimulus bill and stayed in close touch with members. Joe Biden stayed on pivotal...

Stimulus Devotes $1B to Weighing Medical Treatments

Comparing effectiveness will 'save money and lives'

(Newser) - The stimulus bill sinks $1.1 billion into the first major government comparison of different medical treatments, the New York Times reports. The provision is a reaction to concerns that treatments are being prescribed without solid evidence to back their usefulness and cost-effectiveness. But some say such studies would mean...

Republicans Shell Out to Fight Franken

59th Dem seat would make legislating easy for left

(Newser) - After President Obama slipped a bill through Congress with just three Republicans’ support, the GOP is digging in to prevent a 59th Democrat from taking Minnesota's contested Senate seat. Al Franken currently leads the interminable race by 225 votes, but Republicans are pouring cash into Norm Coleman’s legal bid...

Blago Asked Burris for $10K in Cash

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's camp asked Roland Burris for money before nominating him to take Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Burris revealed the request, for up to $10,000 in campaign contributions, in an affidavit dated Feb. 5—3 weeks after he was sworn in. Burris didn't mention...

Senate Passes Stimulus; Obama's Pen Is Next

(Newser) - In a major victory for President Barack Obama, Democrats muscled a huge, $787 billion stimulus bill through Congress late today in hopes of combating the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the AP reports. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous. The Senate approved the measure 60-38 with three GOP moderates...

Controversial US Drones Based in Pakistan: Feinstein

(Newser) - Dianne Feinstein said today that Predator drones used to carry out attacks in Pakistan originate there, not in Afghanistan as had been widely assumed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The revelation, which is likely to cause trouble for the Pakistani government, came during testimony by spy chief Dennis Blair. A...

House Passes Stimulus Bill
 House Passes Stimulus Bill 
Feb 13, 2009 1:53 PM CST

House Passes Stimulus Bill

(Newser) - The House today passed the $787 billion stimulus bill, once again without a single Republican vote, the AP reports. Eight Democrats also opposed the bill, which will make its way to the Senate later today. The victory belongs to President Obama, who says the package will save or create 3....

Congress Needs to Speed Read Like Crazy to Study Stimulus

At 1,434 pages, 13 hours hardly enough

(Newser) - It might be called a stimulus bill, but it’s far from stimulating reading. At 1,434 pages, and written in the usual incomprehensible legalese, the stimulus is going to be passed unread by members of Congress. That’s no fault of theirs, blogs Jimmie Bise at the Sundries Shack;...

Final Stimulus Votes Set Today

With haggling completed, final version of $789B bill will head to House and Senate

(Newser) - Lawmakers have hammered out the final details of the economic stimulus bill and cleared the way for final votes in the House and Senate today, reports Reuters. Both chambers are expected to approve the bill's final version, meeting Barack Obama's deadline of passing the $789 billion package of spending and...

Lincoln Made My Story Possible: Obama

Library of Congress mark bicentennial with special exhibit

(Newser) - President Obama and Congress marked the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth today, with Obama reflecting on how Lincoln's vision led to his own success, CNN reports. "I can say that I feel a special gratitude to this singular figure who in so many ways made my own story...

Stimulus May Pick Up More GOP Votes
Stimulus May Pick Up More GOP Votes
Analysis
Feb 12, 2009 12:13 PM CST

Stimulus May Pick Up More GOP Votes

But not enough to be anything like bipartisan

(Newser) - The passage of the stimulus is a done deal, but that doesn’t mean the votes on the compromise measure won’t be interesting. Democrats are hoping to bring more Republicans on board, reports Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post. All three GOP senators who backed the original Senate bill...

Congress Shames the Peanut Man
Congress Shames the Peanut Man
OPINION
Feb 12, 2009 10:03 AM CST

Congress Shames the Peanut Man

Salmonella hearing makes an example of Fifth-taking exec

(Newser) - Congress knew it wasn’t going to get any answers out of Stew Parnell, the man whose company's peanut butter is suspected of killing eight people. Parnell doggedly took the Fifth on even the simplest questions, but it didn’t matter. Parnell was summoned only so he could be chastised,...

Rove: Thanks, Obama, for Boosting the GOP
Rove: Thanks, Obama,
for Boosting the GOP
OPINION
Feb 12, 2009 8:15 AM CST

Rove: Thanks, Obama, for Boosting the GOP

Republican opposition to bill 'redefined' the party

(Newser) - The Dems may ultimately have gotten their way with the stimulus bill, but the GOP has gotten a lift from the debate process, Karl Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal. Republicans pointed out specific flaws in the bill while introducing ideas of their own, thereby reducing popular support for...

Compromise Stimulus Means Short-Term Pain
Compromise Stimulus Means Short-Term Pain
ANALYSIS
Feb 12, 2009 5:30 AM CST

Compromise Stimulus Means Short-Term Pain

Unemployment will climb, recession will last until end of 2009

(Newser) - The final version of the economic stimulus package will provide less immediate support for the economy than Barack Obama had hoped, reports the Wall Street Journal, and makes it likely that the US will remain in recession through 2009. The $790 billion deal cuts aid to state and local government...

Pelosi and Reid: Which One Got Sneaky?

(Newser) - It looks like a little political intrigue—and possibly some back-stabbing—played out today between Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, writes Glenn Thrush of Politico. When Reid called a press conference to announce that Senate and House negotiators had agreed on a stimulus deal, Pelosi was nowhere in sight. Several...

Congress Joins Tweet-Mania
 Congress Joins Tweet-Mania 
Feb 11, 2009 5:59 PM CST

Congress Joins Tweet-Mania

Reps send updates from Iraq, meetings with prez

(Newser) - Since a ban on social networking was lifted, lawmakers have been using Twitter to give the public unprecedented access to congressional meetings—and perhaps fight boredom during them. At least four Republican reps, among the 65 who Twitter regularly, sent one-liners during a meeting with President Obama on the stimulus...

Congress Reaches a Deal on $789B Stimulus

Trimmed bill cuts funding to many of touted projects

(Newser) - House and Senate negotiators agreed on a compromise $789 billion stimulus plan this afternoon that scales down bills passed by each of the chambers. The final version "creates more jobs than the original Senate bill and spends less than the original House bill," Senate majority leader Harry Reid...

Peanut Corp Execs Refuse to Testify to Congress

Plead the Fifth, decline to eat their products

(Newser) - Peanut Corp execs had little to say today to a congressional panel curious about the salmonella outbreak that sickened 600 people, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Invoking the Fifth Amendment, PCA president Stewart Parnell and plant manager Sammy Lightsey refused to answer any questions—including on whether they would be willing...

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